In the home stretch mendelmax 1.5

My friend and I bought a Mendelmax 1.5 kit a few weeks ago. After a couple of weekends it's finally assembled. Now I'm unsure what's next. We are using a kit from 3d factory with ramps 1.4 with the LCD addon. What should my next order of business be? How do I set up the electronics o do a calibration print? I have windows 7. I don't see many YouTube vids on what to do once its assembled.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

I found reprage which is pretty helpful

How's the build going been thinking about getting that same kit but the lack of instructions and resources is kind of turning me off. i've never built one of these before so spending close to 1000 for a kit with no diy instruction manual is kind of a major risk.

Jason_strk Wrote:
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> How's the build going been thinking about getting
> that same kit but the lack of instructions and
> resources is kind of turning me off. i've never
> built one of these before so spending close to
> 1000 for a kit with no diy instruction manual is
> kind of a major risk.

I am currently buidling a MendelMax 1.5. It is also my first attempt at building a Reprap. I did a lot of research and eventually came across the Terawatt Industries' version which has a great step-by-step assembly guide. Instead of buying a kit, I sourced all the parts myself. I spent about $850 total for everything, but I did have my brother print me the printed parts, so I got those for free.

Assembly Guide: [mendelmax.terawattindustries.com]
Wiring Guide: [mendelmax.terawattindustries.com]

Parts: [terawatt-industries.github.io]
X Ends for 8mm leadscrews: [terawatt-industries.github.io]
Y Carriage: [www.thingiverse.com]

I liked the idea of LM8UU linear bearings for all the axes. Keeping them all the same reduces the number of different parts I had to buy, thus kept costs down.

I purchased the RepRapWorld Minitronics v1.0 board. It seems like a fairly straight-forward board. Not many bells and whistles, but affordable and simple enough for a first-timer.

I'm still building, so I haven't reached the calibration stage yet, but I've bookmarked the following pages:
Calibration Wiki Guide: [reprap.org]
Josef Prusa's Calculator: [calculator.josefprusa.cz]
Marlin Firmware Setup: [airtripper.com]
Slic3r Setup: [richrap.blogspot.com]
Two helpful forum topics: [forums.reprap.org] [forums.reprap.org]


In the end, I agree, it is a little overwhelming and scary to spend that much money without crystal clear instructions. But I've found that there is plenty of help, both here on the forums and on the internet in general. If you or I have issues, usually someone out there has already experienced the same problem and has the answer.

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 05/17/2013 03:22PM by PvtDBJackson.